Staining beadboard plywood

[bmuir]

What is the best way to stain pine, plywood beadboard? I'm building a basement bar for my son and the panels are about 38" high by either 24" or 43" wide. Thus, lots of surface area.
I plan on sanding the surface of the panels, staining them and then applying wipe on poly with a rag.
As for the possible blotching problem, I plan on using Zinsser's SealCoat, a one-pound, dewaxed shellac, as a sanding sealer and then stain over that. Will that work?
Oil based stain or water based? While I like gel stain, I think it is a bad idea in this application.
Ideas? Comments? Thanks.

Bill

[ironhat]

I prefer oil based stains and I generally use a relatively dry brush to get stain into all those gooves but prevent flooding them. When I do manage to get too much on I work the brush dry and go back to that wet area and pull out the excess. I've never pre-treated with anything but a wash coat of thinned poly and didn't have much in the way of blotching. One caveat though. Taking finishing information from me is like asking an astronaut when to plant corn - LOL. This is what I do but I'm sure the experienced heads here will give you the best answers. And, since I haven't said it before, "Welcome to the group". You won't run into a better bunch.

Later,
Chiz